Colerain Township detectives said the two children, found a gun in their backyard and were playing with it when it went off.

Neighbors told WLWT that the two boys are brothers.

Detectives are still investigating why the gun was in the backyard and who the gun belongs to.

Longtime neighbor Terri Cutter said she heard the gunshot followed by children screaming.

"I just heard the gunshot, I was sitting in my room, and I lifted my window to see if I could see anything right away and I couldn't, but I heard the kids screaming … and I saw the two little boys running in the house," Cutter said.

Cutter spoke about how it feels to have a shooting happen in the neighborhood.

"(It is) scary because it's right next door, you always see things like you know on the news and you say 'My gosh if that happened to me to my child, next door or anywhere’ and it has,” said Cutter.

The child was taken to Children's Hospital and into surgery. The extent of his injuries is unknown.

First responders said the boy was alert and talking to paramedics when they arrived.

Authorities said the boy is expected to be OK.

Detectives said they are trying to rule out if other kids were involved.

Police said they will determine if any charges will be filed as they gather more information.

“Once all the facts are ascertained then of course a determination will be made of the next step if there will be any charges and how it will be addressed,” said Sgt. James Love with the Colerain Township Police Department.

Officials with Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services told WLWT they were alerted about the shooting, and are investigating the incident. Officials said they were not active with the family at the time of this incident.